Kicked to the Curb: Blood In Blood Out

  

One of the cruelest things that you can do to another person

 is pretend you care about them more than you really do.

~Doug Coupland

We have all seen the television shows and news programs talking about Jodi Arias and the horrendous murder for which she was convicted.  Her actions caused shock and disbelief that a person, who looks small, meek and mild, can exhibit such savagery to such an extent that those who investigated the murder of her boyfriend (many of whom are jaded, experienced murder investigators) were floored by the gore they found.

It was a bloody, bizarre, and horrific scene. I am not going to rehash all of the facts of this case, as we have all been inundated ad nauseam with information since her case began. We all know that this was an awful case, and now the decision is being made whether Arias lives or dies.

These types of criminal acts by spurned lovers are not unique and have no doubt existed from the very beginning of time when people started to cheat on each other, thereby making their mate want to kill them. There are not too many original stories about spouses or loved ones murdering those who reject or cheat on them.

Having heard so much about Arias these past months, has caused me to do a little research regarding strange lover’s “revenge” acts.  It is interesting to me to imagine if anyone I know were in the same position, whether they could slip into such a blind rage, that they become set on the singular and murderous purpose of making someone pay very dearly.

The Pamper Wearing  Astronaut

Immediately following astronaut, William Oefelein's, divorce, he and Lisa Nowak (another astronaut who flew a mission in the space shuttle Discovery) became involved with each other. Their love affair lasted two years.  The relationship grew stale for Oefelein and he decided to dump Novwak. 

This turned out to be a big mistake.

Oefelein started a relationship with Colleen Shipman, who was working as an engineer with the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida.

Enraged because she was dumped for a new lover, Nowak drove from Houston to Orlando, Florida. She packed latex gloves, a black wig, a BB pistol and ammunition, pepper spray, a hooded tan trench coat, a 2-pound drilling hammer, black gloves, rubber tubing, plastic garbage bags, approximately $585 in cash, her computer, an 8-inch (20 cm) Gerber folding knife and several other items before driving the 900 miles (1,400 km) to Florida. As a further convenience, she brought a pair of diapers so that her road trip would not have the annoyance of bathroom breaks.

Upon arriving in Florida, Nowak went to the Orlando International Airport. She waited for about an hour in the baggage claim area, and then proceeded to the airport parking lot. She located and aggressively confronted Shipman, who had just arrived from Houston.

Nowak slapped Shipman’s car window and tried to open the door. Shipman rolled down the window a couple of inches after which Nowak sprayed pepper spray into her face and car.

Nowak was subsequently arrested at Orlando International Airport on charges of attempted kidnapping, battery, attempted vehicle burglary with battery, and destruction of evidence.

Nowak entered a guilty plea to lesser charges. She was sentenced to a year's probation and the two days already served in jail, with no additional jail time.

She does not fly space shuttles anymore.

The Deadly Dentist

David Lynn Harris was an orthodontist who owned a chain of dental offices along with his wife, Clara Suarez Harris. The chain was very successful, and the couple was able to afford an upscale home and expensive lifestyle. By all accounts, they lived a wonderful, happy, and  luxurious life.

Turns out, David’s marriage was neither happy nor wonderful. He started cheating on his wife.

Clara, who was nobody’s fool, hired a private detective agency to spy on her husband.  The agency notified Clara that her husband was at a hotel with his mistress.

In a rage, Clara went to the hotel to confront her husband. She attacked her husband's mistress. When hotel employees escorted Clara to her Mercedes-Benz, she was very unsatisfied.  She took her anger out on her husband.

When David and his mistress came out of the hotel, Clara struck down her husband in the parking lot as her teenage stepdaughter sat in the passenger seat.  Clara ran over her husband three times. David was pronounced dead at the scene, and Clara was charged with first-degree murder and sentenced to 20 years.

Clara’s first parole review was 2013. It was denied. Her case will come up for parole review again in 2015.

What is the moral, if any, to the above stories? Before you make a decision regarding a spouse or loved one, you absolutely must ask yourself, “What would Jesus do?” The second question you should ask is “What would my mother think if I told her about this?”

Feel free to insert Buddha, God, Allah, Confucius, etc. for the words “Jesus,” or “Mother” if that works better for you. Also, listen very carefully to the answer you get when you ask yourself these questions.  If you do not listen, or play deaf, you may find yourself looking down the barrel of a gun or otherwise facing the murderous wrath of a person whom you thought you knew.  Things can be summed up with a saying my divorce attorney friends often tell me, “You never really get to know someone, until you dump them.”  Proceed cautiously.

~ Leonardo G. Renaud